The main objective of the program was to promote awareness among the students regarding how to make a resilient Rapti City that could incorporate the aspirations of the local people.

A total of 37 students from 9 secondary schools from Rapti Rural Municipality and Gadhawa Rural Municipality participated in the competition. The participants were students from grades 9 to 12.

The creative event was organized by Provincial Infrastructure Development Authority (PIDA), Lumbini Province, Rapti Rural Municipality and NSET under Tomorrow’s Cities research project.

The program was concluded with a brief closing ceremony.

Speaking at the program, Mr. Chhabi Raj Pokhrel, Chief Executive Officer of the Provincial Infrastructure Development Authority (PIDA), shared that even though the construction of the capital city master plan is in the implementation phase, suggestions received from students can be incorporated into the action plan. “We take the development aspirations of these students seriously, and the vision for the future capital city of Lumbini is greatly enriched by their ideas. We will integrate this into our planning,” Mr. Pokhrel said.

“We see some cities in our country are somewhat disorganized and chaotic. But our city should not be like that. It should be organized and suitable for living. We will build Rapti City, which is excellent in every aspect,” Mr. Prakash Bista, Chairperson of Rapti Rural Municipality remarked.

Dr. Ramesh Guragain from NSET emphasized that all stakeholders must come together to make future Rapti city safe, prosperous, equitable and resilient to disaster risks. Dr. Guragain further highlighted the need to incorporate the suggestions provided by students into the planning, development, and implementation phases.

Prior to the Artwork exercise begun, Dr. Ramesh Guragain, Deputy Executive Director of NSET presented the concept and activities of Tomorrow’s Cities project implemented in Rapti City and helped participants with possible ideas for tomorrow’s capital city. Mr. Khadga Sen Oli, Director of Communications and Knowledge Management Division of NSET briefed the students about objectives of the event as well as the content of the art competition. The art competition was coordinated by Mr. Chandan Dhoj Rana Magar, Graphics and Fine Art professional at NSET.

Later, the students’ artworks were showcased in Rapti Action Plan Workshop.

News coverage by media (in Nepali language)

Naya Yugbodh Daily: https://nayayougbodh.com/news/2024/03/21/218655

Nepal Television news: https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=402786912354372&extid=CL-UNK-UNK-UNK-AN_GK0T-GK1C&ref=sharing&mibextid=Nif5oz

For more information, visit https://tomorrowscities.org/tomorrows-rapti and/or write to ksenoli@nset.org.np .